December 17, 2024
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the city and its partners have won approximately $40 million in competitive grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2024 Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Program. The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ (DCAS) $17.3 million award will allow the city to replace 55 diesel trucks with electric vehicles (EV), as well as to add 10 additional fast chargers across the city and expand EV training for city mechanics.
“Building a safer city also means protecting New Yorkers from dangerous emissions and the impacts of climate change — and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” said Mayor Adams. “These $40 million in grants — part of the over $2.3 billion in federal infrastructure grants that we’ve won — will allow us to take dozens of heavy-duty diesel trucks and more than a hundred polluting school buses out of our city’s fleet and replace them with clean, zero-emissions vehicles. My thanks to the EPA for these grants, and to all of our city agencies, fellow elected officials, and advocates who made it a reality.”
Additionally, with city support, the New York City School Bus Umbrella Services, Inc. won an approximately $32 million grant to purchase an additional 109 electric school buses for city students. It builds on unprecedented success of the city’s Federal Infrastructure Funding Task Force in winning grant funding from the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Under Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi’s leadership, the task force has secured more than $2.3 billion in grants — $1.3 billion of which were through competitive applications — to support upgrades to New York City’s infrastructure and prepare for the impacts of climate change.
“Our school system isn’t only educating tomorrow’s sustainability leaders—we’re also working hard to make our city a greener place for the next generation,” said New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “Thanks to this grant, as our students learn about climate action in school, they can know that the transportation they take to school is also working to support our planet and city. We’re grateful to our partners at the EPA for helping us to make this work possible.”
Vehicles being replaced with new zero emission models include:
- Diesel-powered food delivery trucks that deliver hot food and supplies to correctional facilities.
- Refuse haulers and mechanical brooms that contribute to the collection of 24 million pounds of recyclables, trash, and compostable material annually citywide.
- Rack trucks, which carry equipment for road repairs and maintenance and traffic control, and attenuator trucks designed to improve work zone safety on roads and highways during road work and construction activities.
- Utility, tapping, valve, and attenuator vehicles, which are used to maintain the infrastructure that provides drinking water and processes wastewater and runoff citywide, including 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts, 7,500 miles of sewer lines, and 153,000 miles of catch basins.
“Electric vehicles are the way of the future; they’re cleaner, produce zero emissions, and, with over 5,400 already in our fleet, we’re showing our commitment on the streets of the city,” said DCAS Commissioner Louis A. Molina. “Thanks to this $17 million grant from the EPA, we’re not just bolstering the greenest fleet in the nation, we’re also investing in the physical infrastructure and the knowledge base needed to maintain it.”
Beyond the 55 new heavy duty zero emissions vehicles, DCAS will also invest in new workforce development and training to support the maintenance, charging, fueling, and operation of zero-emissions vehicles. This will include driver, mechanic, and other essential personnel training related to the maintenance and operation of new technologies and electrician training to install electric vehicle supply equipment. Ten additional fast chargers will be installed to support DOT electric vehicles citywide, expanding DCAS’s largest-in-the-state charging network of more than 2,100 chargers. To date, over 76 percent of the city’s fleet — more than 21,000 vehicles — now use sustainable alternative fuels, including electric, hybrid electric, solar, and biofuel.
“This $40 million federal award from our historic environmental legislation is a huge win-win: clean, electric school busses that don’t pump dirty diesel fumes into our air and a better, safer ride for our kids. I’m proud to announce more than $40 million in federal grants for New York City to deploy 109 zero-emission school buses and another 55 electric vehicles, install charging equipment, and expand EV training for city workers. This federal investment will help significantly reduce harmful carbon emissions in our communities and upgrade the city’s infrastructure,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. “I fought hard to secure funding via the Inflation Reduction Act for this new EPA program to replace existing heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission vehicles while supporting clean vehicle infrastructure and the training of workers to deploy these new zero-emission technologies.”
Through the city’s Federal Infrastructure Funding Task Force, the city and its partners have won a wide range of grants, including but not limited to:
- $164 million to help transform the Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a modern, 21st-century maritime port and vibrant mixed-use community hub.
- $127 million, across several successful applications, to acquire nearly 400 electric school buses.
- $117 million to construct the next phase of the Queensway, a new linear park being built on a vacant corridor of the former Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Beach Branch.
- $100 million to construct Cloudburst stormwater management projects in Corona and Kissena — low-lying neighborhoods subject to frequent flooding.
- $96 million to construct a segment of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway along 10th Avenue in Inwood.
- $57 million to help 1-4 family homes and affordable housing developments afford solar panels.
- $25 million to add electric micromobility charging and storage stations to New York City Housing Authority developments.
“This funding, awarded to New York City through the EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, demonstrates the city’s commitment to prioritizing clean energy practices that support good-paying jobs and protect communities overburdened by air pollution,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I am proud to see New York continue to embrace sustainable technologies, and I will continue fighting for federal initiatives that improve our state’s infrastructure and mitigate climate change.”
“Two years ago, Democrats passed the largest and most aggressive clean energy investment in our nation’s history, and New Yorkers are reaping the benefits,” said U.S. Representative Dan Goldman said. “I am thrilled that New York City is receiving $40 million in federal grants for zero-emission school buses, sanitation trucks, and charging stations. I applaud our city for securing these critical federal funds and will continue working with all levels of government to direct the resources New York needs to transition us away from foreign oil sources and towards a greener future.”